MetaFilter's site and server can always use upgrades of hardware, software, and bandwidth, as well as more stable funding for continued support of its small but high-skilled moderation and backend team! If you'd like to chip in, you can donate to Metafilter.

Print Media

UK Newspapers

The Guardian

The Guardian is generally progressive, tech-savvy, and not originally from London. Home to Marina Hyde, Ben Goldacre's Bad Science column, and Charlie Brooker.The Observer is basically the Sunday Guardian, but with a occasional worrying line in sensationalism. 1/ 2 When people say "The Grauniad" they refer to the paper's erstwhile reputation for typos, which probably has its roots in geography rather than incompetence. Some readers feel that it has moved away from its traditional left-wing roots of late, and The Observer in particular is criticised for seeming to cater only to Islington upper-middle-classes.

The Times

The Times is the traditional paper of record, but its reputation has suffered somewhat since its acquisition by Rupert Murdoch's News International. Mostly right of the middle, it has supported Labour in recent times, but perhaps only because it was politically expedient.

The Telegraph

The Telegraph is more staunchly conservative, the Times' traditional competitor, and some people still like to make fun of its unfortunately timed premature obituaries. It has a reputation for strong sports coverage and many younger readers will use this as their 'excuse' for reading what is often seen as an old person's paper.

The Independent

The Independent is known for its unusual front pages, for being openly critical of the UK/US War on Terror policies and for opposing the Iraq War. It is the least popular of the UK dailies.

The Mirror

The Mirror is a traditionally left-of-centre 'red top' ie. aimed at the working class. Unlike its' red top brethren, the Star and the Sun, it has a reputation for containing actual news.

The Sun

The Sun is thought of as a rag in the UK. Right-wing, very simple language, invented the Page 3 Girl (topless model, link may be NSFW,) printer of lies such as the Hillsborough coverage. Oddly, they are one of the few national papers to employ a Muslim staffer. The Sunday analogue of The Sun is The People.

The Daily Mail

The Daily Mail / Daily Express are middle-market tabloids, aimed at the petit bourgeoise or 'Little Englanders'. Both are very right wing. The Express is known for their dislike of immigrants and obsessions with Madeleine McCann and Diana. The Mail is known for their dislike of immigrants, 'lefties', and gays. The Mail is also said by some to be rather misogynistic (particularly critical of the figures of celebrities, working mothers, and the large) yet has a lot of female readers. The comments are often rather vile indeed.

Israeli Newspapers

Israel Ha'Yom

Israel Ha'Yom is the most read paper in Israel. It's free and relies on advertising to survive. They pride themselves on being moderate and unbiased -- and the Israeli public seems to regard them as such, but in actuality they do trend to the right.

Yedi'ot Aharonot (YNet)

Yedi'ot Aharonot (YNet) was once the most read paper in Israel, and their website was once the most visited site in the country. They have ceded this position to Israel Ha'Yom. Ynet has a very high readership amongst native Hebrew and Arabic speakers. The paper's political bent is centrist, containing content from both right and left-wing sources. Their right-wing editorials often spur a lot of controversy in secular circles, as many of them are written by folks on the far end of the political spectrum. Ynet covers a wider range of political opinion than any other paper.

Maariv

Maariv is Hebrew-only. Politically centrist, leaning towards the right. The paper was founded by disgruntled Yediot Aharonot staffers. Used to be extremely popular. Google Translate may prove helpful for non-Hebrew speakers.

The Jerusalem Post (JPost)

Since the 1980's, the Jerusalem Post (JPost) has been a mostly right-wing paper. Libertarian on financial issues. In some ways, the JPost is the Israeli version of the Wall Street Journal. Used to be moderate with regard to the Palestinians, it has become quite hawkish.

Ha'aretz

Ha'aretz is a center-left paper. Read by about 6% of the Israeli population, whereas the Jerusalem Post has a higher readership. However, Ha'aretz is considered the most influential paper in the country, because it is the primary source of reliable news and editorials for many politicians. Their readership is wealthier, better educated and more politically powerful than that of any other paper in Israel. Secular. Politically moderate and centrist, the paper has been highly critical of late, of Israeli policies, foreign and domestic, and has been the source of several embarrassing stories about the government, including the Anat Kam case. (MeFi thread.) As a general rule, stories about Chasidim,Hareidi or other sects of Orthodox Judaism are more balanced in Ha'aretz than any other paper, meaning they will often include both negative and positive perspectives.

Canadian Newspapers

The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail is Canada's newspaper of record. It was founded in 1844, and has the second largest circulation, just under 2 million weekly. It is intended to have a national focus, although it is based in Toronto, and this is occasionally evident. The editorial slant is best described as centrist to centre-right and pro-business; it has endorsed the Conservative party in the three most recent elections, but has also supported Liberal policies in the past.

National Post

The National Post was established by Postmedia in the 1990s as a competitor to The Globe and Mail. It is also Toronto-based, with a national focus, but from a strong right-wing perspective. Although it has half the circulation of The Globe and Mail, and is about 9th nationally for readership, it was named "consistently #1"... for anti-Islamic content by the Canadian Islamic Congress. It tends to be slightly to the right of the other newspapers under the Postmedia umbrella.

Postmedia Newspapers

Postmedia also publishes a series of newspapers local to various major Canadian cities; they share some Postmedia content on issues of larger interest, but do significant local reporting. They tend towards the centre-right or right of the spectrum; the Montreal Gazette is more moderate, while the Calgary Herald has an editiorial board comprised largely of former Sun staffers (see below). Outside of Toronto, these tend to be the best major newspapers in their cities. Postmedia papers include the Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Winnipeg Free Press, Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Gazette.

Sun Newspapers

Sun Media newspapers are unabashedly right-wing and populist tabloids, in the manner of their UK inspiration. (Canadian Page 3 girls retain their tops, however.) They will champion their lowest common denominator positions with a headline like "GOOD RIDDANCE!" or the like running the full front page, assuming there isn't an excuse for putting a pretty girl on the cover. They are notable for heavy coverage of sports and celebrity news, strongly opinionated editorials and short, easily read news stories. (In going there to find a link, a direct quote: "Somebody’s got to keep pounding on these whiny left-wing wishywashy wimps that there’s another side of the story.") The Sun Media papers include the Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa Suns, generally with about half of the readership of their Postmedia competitors. Note that the Vancouver Sun is a Postmedia paper, despite the name.

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is the most-read newspaper in Canada, although its' Toronto focus means it is not influential outside southern Ontario. It is the only significant English language newspaper in the country that could be described as centre-left or progressive.

French-language newspapers

Canada's four most prominent French-language newspapers are Le Journal de Montréal and La Presse from Montréal, followed by Le Journal de Québec, and Le Soliel from Québec City. The Le Journal papers are Sun Media newspapers, although instead of the reflexive anti-Quebec sentiments often seen in the English Sun papers, they are Québec nationalist tabloids. They also tend to slightly outsell their more moderate, federalist counterparts, La Presse and Le Soliel, which are owned by the Power corporation.